BioMassters Ltd has started distributing 1,280 locally manufactured clean cooking stoves and 25,600 kilograms of pellet fuel to households in five Kigali IDP settlements. The distribution, valued at approximately Rwf94.208 million, began on September 23 at the Busanza IDP settlement in Kicukiro District. The initiative is a partnership between BioMassters, the Government of Rwanda, Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA), the City of Kigali, the Energy Development Corporation Limited (EDCL), and Innovate UK.
Each beneficiary household will receive a Tier-4 gasifier stove and 20kg of pellet fuel free of charge, along with training, access to a local pellet supply point, and after-sales support. The stoves and fuel are designed to provide cleaner and lower-cost cooking solutions. At current market prices, a stove costs Rwf65,000 and a kilogram of pellets Rwf430. The five settlements were selected after BioMassters assessed all 18 IDP settlements in Kigali.
The assessment aimed to ensure households can continue using the stoves after receiving them. The initiative aligns with Rwanda's efforts to expand access to cleaner cooking technologies and reduce household air pollution. According to the World Health Organization, 98.5 percent of Rwanda's population relied on polluting cooking fuels in 2023. Household air pollution from solid fuels was estimated to have contributed to 6,932 deaths in 2019.
BioMassters' Tier-4 gasifier stoves can reduce biomass consumption by up to 90 percent and cooking costs by up to 50 percent compared with charcoal. The company produces its pellets in Rwanda from biomass waste. The stoves have been tested and certified by the Rwanda Standards Board, with a safety score of 97 and thermal efficiency of over 40 percent. Beneficiaries have expressed enthusiasm for the new cooking solution.
Beatha Mukarutesi, one of the first recipients, said her household spends about Rwf16,000 on each of two sacks of charcoal per month. She believes the new stoves are timely and cost-effective compared to charcoal. Jean Pierre Iyakaremye, president of the hygiene committee in Rwanga Cell, also welcomed the initiative, saying it will save families money and reduce the condition of homes and surrounding infrastructure affected by charcoal.
Sylvain Rucyaha, Director of Business Development and Sales at BioMassters, emphasized the importance of a fuel supply network to ensure households can continue using the stoves. The company currently has more than 40 pellet supply points and is expanding through company shops and a franchise network in Kigali and beyond. Claudia Muench, CEO of BioMassters, said the company wants beneficiaries to use the stoves as long-term household appliances.
BioMassters is also targeting institutional kitchens, particularly schools that rely heavily on firewood. The company has retrofitted 10 schools and aims to retrofit 250 schools over the coming years. Rwanda's climate action plan targets a 38 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. BioMassters says replacing charcoal with pellets made from biomass waste can help reduce pressure on forests and make use of materials that would otherwise be discarded.
Key points
- BioMassters distributes 1,280 clean cooking stoves and 25,600kg of pellet fuel to 1,200 households in five Kigali IDP settlements.
- The initiative aims to reduce household air pollution and pressure on biomass resources.
- BioMassters has distributed 1,555 stoves and 31,100 kilograms of pellet fuel to families in Nyagatare, Rubavu, and Kigali since December 2025.
